Nadal win proves nothing

After Rafael Nadal crushed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 in the Monte Carlo final Sunday, Nadal fans rejoiced. Despite coming into the event with the now-standard doubts about his knees, he looked like his old self, dictating play as he won his eighth consecutive title at one of the game’s most picturesque and storied venues.

After seven straight defeats at the hands of the No. 1 player from Serbia, Nadal had finally managed to break the ice. “Thank you for letting me have this one,” Nadal told Djokovic during the trophy ceremony.

But in terms of their recent one-sided rivalry, the win was fairly insignificant. All it really proved was what everyone already knew: if you want to beat Nadal on clay, not only do you have to have the weapons, you have to be 100 per cent there for every single point. Djokovic wasn’t even 50 per cent there on Sunday.

The Serb’s beloved grandfather, Vladimir, passed away earlier in the week. And while Djokovic was publicly stoic after leaving the court in tears following his first-round win, he missed the funeral in Belgrade Saturday.

As well, Monaco is Djokovic’s home, the Monte Carlo Country Club his home turf. We all know what it’s like when something like this happens, but it’s especially magnified when you’re as famous as he is. Well-meaning friends and acolytes alike all want to offer their support, their condolences. Even Albert, the Prince of Monaco, offered the “full support of the Prince and Princess” after the trophy ceremony.

It had to be the most draining week of his life. By Sunday, Djokovic had little left.

But the victory, however obtained, will do Nadal some good if only because the alternative would have been absolutely soul-crushing. Just imagine if he had lost to Djokovic again, at the tournament he has owned his entire career, with his opponent a long way from his best. Their next meeting will tell us a lot more.

Raonic and the terre battue: Being tall, North American and a first strike player are three of the challenges Canada’s Milos Raonic faces during the clay-court season. But as uncertain as he looked in his first-round loss to Albert Montanes of Spain in Monte Carlo last week – his first clay-court match of 2012 – the 21-year-old looked far more assured in dispatching left-hander Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Barcelona event Monday.

Raonic was moving and striking the ball with a lot more authority. But he also was lucky; he won the first set despite serving at only 41 per cent. He didn’t earn a single break point on Falla’s serve, and converted only one of six break attempts.

In the second set, an increasingly agitated Raonic – a rare sight these days – had to pull out huge serves to save three break points at 3-4; one false move would have had Falla serving for the set.

Raonic called it a big step forward. “To win the next match, keep winning and keep improving are my goals in Barcelona,” he said afterward.

But this part of the season will always be survival for Raonic. His big serve and forehand have proven devastating on the lightning-fast indoor surfaces. But outdoors, on the slower clay, against opponents who master the surface better and who have so much more time to chase down his shots, both his footing and his game plan are far more uncertain.

Raonic made the third round in Barcelona a year ago and the semifinals at a smaller event in Portugal the following week that he will bypass this season. After that come the two big Masters 1000 clay-court events in Madrid and Rome.

Raonic’s ranking is holding steady in the mid-20s. He lost in the first round of Madrid and Rome last year, as well as the first round of the French Open. So the next month is when he can make a big move. But he needs some good fortune with the draws, and more days like he had against Falla.

Montreal pros on Tour: In addition to the first pro doubles title won by 18-year-old Westmounter Eugénie Bouchard on Sunday, there’s good news for Kirkland’s Erik Chvojka.

The 25-year-old flew to Bucharest and signed in for the qualifying at the ATP Tour event at the Friday night deadline, only to lose in the third and final round Monday. But Chvojka made it in as the lucky loser (the highest-ranked among those who lost in the final round) when Jurgen Melzer of Austria withdrew with an ankle injury. “It’s a second chance to win the title,” he joked. He meets a fellow lefty, young German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, in the first round.

Currently ranked No. 233, Chvojka toils mostly at the minor-league Challenger level. This will be only his second-ever appearance in the main draw of an ATP Tour-level event. He received a wild card into the Rogers Cup last summer in Montreal and lost a tough three-setter to top-20 player Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine.

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